A newly built, 68-meter giant skipjack tuna fishing vessel docked at Yaizu Port in Shizuoka Prefecture on Friday [1].
The vessel, named Eisei Maru, represents a significant shift in fishing capacity designed to maximize the volume of katsuo processed during peak seasons. By increasing the ship's size and technical capabilities, the operator aims to boost what he describes as the vessel's "combat power."
Ryuki Arakawa, executive director of the Eisei Maru, said that while 499-ton vessels were previously the norm for single-line fishing, this ship was constructed at 599 tons [1]. The vessel cost approximately 2.3 billion yen to build [1]. It is equipped with automatic single-line fishing devices and 26 freezers [1].
These onboard freezers provide a total storage capacity of 430 tons of katsuo [1]. Arakawa said the design focused on the ability to catch fish, the power to cool them into products, and the creation of an environment where crew members can work more easily [1].
The vessel's first major haul demonstrated this increased capacity. On its latest voyage, the ship hauled over 280 tons of katsuo [1]. The resulting auction price for this specific catch reached approximately 130 million yen [1].
The investment in larger tonnage and automation allows the crew to maintain higher productivity while reducing the physical strain of manual fishing. This approach enables the Eisei Maru to secure a larger share of the market by ensuring a high-volume, high-quality supply of tuna throughout the fishing window [1].
“The vessel cost approximately 2.3 billion yen to build.”
The deployment of the Eisei Maru signals a trend toward industrialization in traditional single-line fishing. By scaling up tonnage and integrating automation, Japanese fishing operations are attempting to offset labor challenges and increase economic viability through sheer volume and improved preservation technology.
